Food Maker, Chef, and Traveling Diner
Pressed under an apartment building high-rise in Little Tokyo is Aburiya Toranoko, a Japanese restaurant scattered amongst countless others in the downtown L.A. region. I hadn’t heard much about this place before my sister gave me a bloomspot certificate for my Christmas present—she saw the …
Sometimes catching up is the perfect medicine for a busy holiday season. Amongst this crazy holiday season I was grateful to take a night off to have a girls’ night with my sweet friend Bryn. We looked online for a new place to eat and …
I’ve been writing now for three years 2011 and 2012 about Oshogatsu, which is traditional Japanese New Year celebrations. Of course my family is American so we do things probably very different than in Japan, but I love these customs and I hope to keep them for a very long time. Osechi–Ryori are traditional Japanese foods cooked in soy sauce and sugar or vinegars to be prepared for future consumption. It’s taboo to cook for the 1st three days of the New Year, so the food is placed in beautiful Japanese boxes called Jūbako to preserve its freshness for the days to come. This year we had a large New Year’s celebration filled with lots of love and tons of food. I hope you started the New Year just the way you wanted.
Toasting Mochi with Bachan 
2013 Osechi-Ryori
Menu
Kagami Mochi
Manju (Japanese sticky rice confection)
Ozoni (Konbu, Carrot, Kamaboko, Shiitake Mushroom, Imo (taro root), Renkon (lotus root), and Mochi in Seasoned Homemade Dashi)
Jubako
5-Sided Carrot, 5-Sided Daikon, Kombu (rolled seaweed), Shiitake Mushrooms, Satoimo(taro root), Renkon (lotus root), Takenoko (bamboo shoots)
Kinpira (sato shoyu gobo and carrots)
Tazukri (candied, dried sardines)
Kamaboko (pink and white Japanese pressed fish cake)
Dashi Steamed Shrimp
Tsukemono (salted cucumber)
Namasu (pickled carrots and daikon)
Umeboshi (Japanese picked plums)
Blistered Sesame and Soy Shisito Peppers
Sake and Mirin Grilled Shrimp
Salmon Sashimi
Maguro (Tuna) Sashimi
Spicy Crab and Japanese Vegetable Sushi
California Roll
Vegetable Roll
Inari
Japanese-Style Short Ribs
Sweet Asian Fried Chicken Wings (mom’s contribution)
Pork Wontons (mom & dad’s contribution)
Char Siu-Style Sliced Pork
There you have it!
Happy 2013! May it be filled with health, love, peace and happiness.
From the Fujitaki Family to you all! Thanks for sharing in our families tradition.
To see my sister in law Linh’s beautiful photos of our New Year please visit her blog here.
cheers
-Unrivaledkitch
While in Mammoth, I always like to cook dinner for my family at least a couple of nights. Though we’re used to the food up there, it’s not the most amazing cuisine, but it’s pleasant because some of the places we go to, including Giovanni’s, …
Matsuhisa As Brandon and I made our way down to Beverly Hills from Ventura, my birthday dinner seemed to be well anticipated. We’d eaten together years ago in Malibu at Nobu, and to say the least, that was an unforgettable meal and dinner, but Matsuhisa …
The type of chirashi that I’m used to is much different than the traditional Japanese-style dish that I had when I was in Japan, and the ones that I drool over in Japanese cookbooks, with lots of lovely expensive thin slices of fresh raw fish and other seafood over a bed of sushi rice. Growing up, we waited till Obon (a Japanese festival that takes place at the Buddhist temple behind my dad’s family house) in July to have different styles of simple Japanese American food. Amongst the teriyaki chicken and sato-shoyu grilled beef, we ate chirashi, which was a mix of marinated Japanese vegetables in sushi rice topped with a little ginger. Nothing too special or fancy, but with the other food we ate, it always tasted good.
This is my shrimp version of chirashi. I used a very simple package of Sushi Taro brand chirashi mix, which makes this a very simple process without having to pickle your own vegetables (including carrots, lotus, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms). In my chirashi I use leftover Japanese short grain rice to make an easy and delicious meal and add extra vegetables for additional nourishment. Even my niece Maleeya loves it.
Shrimp and Vegetable Chirashi
2 cups cooked short grain Japanese rice
1 package chirashi mix, set aside nori for topping
¼ cup kamaboko (Japanese fish cak–I like Yamasa brand), sliced into small strips
1 egg scrambled, plus 1 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ lb peeled and deveined shrimp without tail
¼ cup frozen peas
¼ white onion, minced
¼ cup bamboo shoots, cut into small strips
½ portobello mushroom, cut into small dice
1 teaspoon pickled red ginger
Salt
Pepper
Non-stick spray
In a small sauce pan, heat over medium-high heat and spray the pan with non-stick spray. Scramble the cracked egg with a teaspoon of water and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
Fry the egg mixture in the pan, swirling the egg around till it becomes firm. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat off, letting the egg sit for about 2-3 minutes. Slide a rubber spatula around the edges to loosen the egg and slide it out of the pan. Set aside. If the egg becomes broken, that’s fine, because it’s going to be sliced into small pieces once cooled.
In a small bowl, place shrimp, a pinch of salt and pepper, sesame oil, and soy sauce, then let the shrimp marinate for 5-10 minutes.
In a large sauté pan, place extra virgin olive oil at the bottom and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion, portobello mushrooms and bamboo shoots, then sauté till the onions and mushrooms are cooked down (about 7 minutes). Add peas to the pot and cook another 3-4 minutes. Now add the marinated shrimp and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or a little longer, depending on the size of your shrimp.
Take about 6 shrimps out of the mixture and set aside. In a large bowl, add the vegetable and shrimp mixture to the rice, then stir till incorporated together. Add the chirashi envelope and incorporate well. Place the sushi rice in a serving container and let cool. Slice 6 shrimp in half along the center of the shrimp and place them on top of the sushi rice. Take the sliced egg and sprinkle over the top, top with kamaboko slices, red ginger and nori and serve.
Cheers
-Unrivaledkitch
When I was a little girl, I waited all year long for the days when I could take a little break away from my brother, sister, and maybe even my mom and dad as well, and spend time with my Bachan in Pasasdena. Bachan (or …
On New Year’s Eve, as young girl I would sit in front of the T.V. and watch Japanese television. I didn’t know what the heck was going on, but every year since I can remember when I was little, we watched this same show. I …
This year I turned 26 years old. Still, some things never change and I like it that way. I was in Mammoth Lakes, CA for my birthday, which is where I spend most of my birthdays since I was very little.
My birthday this year was not just one day, but seemed like a whole month of celebration. I’ve honestly had one of the best months of my entire life. With so many beautiful people involved, my family and of course my amazing friends, it’s so easy to appreciate the beauty of life. On my actual birthday I spent the whole afternoon fishing at Lake Mary along with the sandwiches and snacks that we brought. I drove up to the lake a little later than the rest of my family because I didn’t feel like waking up at 5:30 a.m. to go fishing, but I was at the lake around 10:00 a.m. We caught a good amount of fish, like almost 30, and I was able to finish the 4th Harry Potter book The Goblet of Fire.
Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and many tourists like to boat and kayak on the lake, which is fine, but most of them don’t understand that there are people fishing from the shoreline so they go right where our lines are cast. Well one boat in particular was close to shore that they almost beached themselves, but instead managed to rudely catch the line of my mom’s fishing pole and take her whole pole into the water about 15-20 feet out from the shore line—this was a new pole mind you. My mom was very upset and those people didn’t even stop to help. They just sped away. Lucky for us, a kayaker that was nearby saw what happened and she paddled over to help but was unable to get the pole from the bottom of the lake. Now I don’t normally like diving to the bottom of ice cold lakes to get fishing poles, especially because of idiots, but my mom would have been so upset for the rest of the day if I didn’t get it. So being a good daughter, I walked out until only my head was just barely over the water, finding a rock to keep me up, and then at the count of three I dove to the bottom of the lake and got the pole from under the rock. I have to say I’ve never been head-in deep, let alone diving to the bottom of a lake that was freezing cold before. So, moral of the story, if you’re on a boat, stay in the middle of the lake so I don’t have to dive in to get another fishing pole.
Anyway, that’s a crazy story and in all the years we’ve been fishing, this is the first time that someone took the fishing pole out that far. My aunt, uncle and cousin were there and they pretty much jaw dropped. I’m pretty sure no one else would have gone in after it, except maybe my mom, but no way. It was a good thing I had extra clothes, so I changed and we showed our extended family around the lakes. After, we went back to our respective condos and got showered and all that good stuff and went out to dinner at Shogun.
Shogun is a Japanese eatery in Mammoth. They specialize in combination plates of hot food, boats of different varieties and sushi. We’ve been coming here forever. It’s not the greatest place, but we’ve never had a problem. We ordered a couple of rolls of sushi to share amongst everyone and a boat for 3 people to share between my mom, dad, me and my grandma. All the food was delicious and of course I had to have a Sapporo to cheers to my new year. The boat consists of tuna sashimi, mixed tempura, tonkatsu, chicken teriyaki, and beef teriyaki. It comes with hot white rice, cabbage salad, spicy Tsukemono, and miso soup. Then for dessert you get your choice of ice cream. It’s a lot of food but everything is always as I remember it. Shogun is one of those places that you’re so used to eating, you never have to complain, except sometimes the service is a little off, but we got a free beer out of it.
After my food coma settled, my aunt, uncle and cousin brought over a birthday cake in the shape of a lady bug that came from Schat’s Bakery in Mammoth. The cake was tasty but I had so much food at dinner that it was difficult to fully enjoy it. But it was definitely cute and tasted good—vanilla and red velvet.
Yesterday I presented some of the best food I’ve ever made. In my cooking experience this is what it comes down to, delivering something with love and something so honest as the things you grew up with, or just love yourself that the food you’ve …